WASHINGTON (AP) — Days after Howard University notified hundreds of first-time-in-college students that their spots for the upcoming semester were no longer being held, other colleges and universities are stepping up to fill the gap for students who are scrambling to find other options.
Keana Johnson is one of them.
The 17-year-old was looking forward to starting classes next month at Howard University as the next step on her educational journey and a way out of the New York City shelter where she lives. She told The Associated Press Tuesday that she may consider the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, which is extending its undergraduate application deadline to Aug. 7. She’s also looking into historically Black colleges and universities in the South, but realizes her options are limited and time is running short.
“I will still love to go to Howard,” Johnson said. “I’ve invested too much into going to that university to give up now.”
Howard, one of about 100 historically Black colleges and universities in the United States, said Friday that it notified 502 first-time-in-college students that their spots for the upcoming semester were no longer being held. The school said the students had not met deadlines for enrollment and financial obligations.
Howard also said students who believe their accounts did not reflect their financial standing should contact its financial aid office and that “each case will be reviewed individually to determine whether adjustments or reinstatement are appropriate.”
Howard University has not responded to an AP request for the number of unenrolled students reinstated or the status of cases being reviewed.
Johnson said she has emailed the school multiple times for answers she's yet to receive. “I called every single office there is a number for,” she added.
The Howard staff on the other end of the calls were of no help, Johnson said.
The University of the District of Columbia, like Howard, is an HBCU and located in Washington. The public university has committed to offering a hand to students who especially need one right now, said Hasanna Tyus, the vice president of enrollment services.
“We understand that college plans can change unexpectedly, and we want students to know that they still have options,” Tyus said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that the State University of New York and City University of New York also are expediting late admissions reviews at some schools for state residents unenrolled by Howard.
Participating campuses also will provide an $800 credit per student to offset enrollment deposits paid to Howard that have not been refunded.
“New York is home to the nation’s finest systems of public higher education, and we are ready to welcome these talented students with the opportunity they deserve,” Hochul said.
Johnson, who is Black and uses “Star” as her preferred name, was notified in December of her admittance to Howard's nursing program for the fall 2026 semester.
She said she doesn’t live with either parent and has been staying at a homeless shelter for teens and young adults since early June while attending the Charter School of Educational Excellence in Yonkers.
She still hopes to land at an HBCU.
“The main thing that kept me going was knowing I was going to end up at Howard,” Johnson said. “It's a community of peers that look like you and struggle like you.”
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Williams is a member of AP's Race & Ethnicity team.
FILE - A sign welcomes people to the Howard University campus in Washington on July 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
SEATTLE (AP) — The 15-year-old arrested after a shootout at a food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend was armed with a ghost gun with an extended magazine, police said Tuesday.
Police Chief Shon Barnes told a news conference that the weapon was a 9 mm gun from Polymer80 — a now-defunct company that was once a leading manufacturer of ghost gun parts.
Investigators also recovered two other weapons and 14 shell casings that had been fired by weapons of two different calibers, he said.
The shooting in the waning hours of the three-day Bite of Seattle festival left three people dead, including a 19-year-old gunman, and at least four people injured, including a toddler. Authorities say they believe the violence was gang-related, and they are reviewing any available surveillance video and interviewing victims and witnesses in an effort to identify others who may have been involved.
An eighth person with a possible gunshot wound checked themself into a Seattle hospital after the shooting, but checked out before investigators could conduct an interview, Barnes said. Legal obstacles have prevented detectives from obtaining the patient’s identity, he added. It's unclear if the injury was related to the festival shooting or whether the person might have been involved in it, but Barnes asked for the person to come forward and speak with investigators.
Ghost guns are privately made — often homemade — firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them. They have often been purchased without a background check. Law enforcement officials say ghost guns, including those made with 3D printers, have been used in violent crimes across the U.S.
Lawsuits and state-level bans eventually pushed Polymer80 out of business in 2024, and last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a rule adopted under former President Joe Biden requiring companies to treat gun kits like other firearms by adding serial numbers, running background checks, and verifying that buyers are 21 or older.
The weapon the 15-year-old had been shooting when he surrendered to police was equipped with an extended 33-round magazine, Barnes said. The magazine still had 19 rounds in it.
At the scene Sunday night, police also recovered a 9 mm handgun that they do not believe was used in the shooting.
And on Monday, as food vendors were allowed to return to the area to clean up and collect their equipment, a third weapon was discovered: a Glock 45 model 9 mm with a switch allowing it to fire fully automatically, Barnes said. Police believe that gun was fired during the shooting. It had an extended 40-round magazine, with 21 rounds remaining in it.
In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle on Monday, police said they believed there were at least three shooters: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene and “at least one other unknown suspect.” Authorities had earlier said they believed there were two.
A judge on Monday ordered the 15-year-old to be held in juvenile detention for investigation of assault and firearms charges pending further hearings. The King County prosecutor's office said it expected to receive the case from police on Wednesday for a charging decision. Hong Tran, a public defender assigned to the teen's case, declined to comment in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday identified the dead as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.
Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses. He died from a gunshot wound to his torso, while Whitehead died from a gunshot to her pelvis and Semo died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Whitehead had just moved to Washington from Alabama a year ago and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was shot, her cousin Michelle Whitehead told The Associated Press. She was taken to the hospital and died in surgery, she said.
Ashley Whitehead adored her two adult daughters, and also loved nature and arts and crafts, her cousin said.
“I would consider her just a free spirit. She had the best sense of humor, the best gorgeous smile,” she said.
During a vigil Monday night at the center, Michelle Whitehead stood among dozens of others with a sign that said “Whitehead Strong” as the group held a moment of silence and raised up flashlights on their phones to honor those that had been killed. Candles and flowers were arranged around them.
The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy, two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39, all of whom were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.
One of the victims was walking a bicycle when struck, the court document said. The toddler was with his mother.
Rush reported from Portland, Oregon. Associated Press writer Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
With a backdrop of the Space Needle, candles are seen lighted during the vigil for victims the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
People hold smartphone with flash light during the vigil for victims the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Michelle Whitehead, right, and her sister Judy Whitehead, left, both cousin of victim Ashley Whitehead, during the vigil for victims the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Police tape cordons off an area near the Space Needle the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Workers clean up the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A vendor, right, who found a bullet casing, gives it to a police officer after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A police officer puts a bullet casing into a rubber glove after he received it from a person who found it, following a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
